The New Dictionary of Hiring

Employer Distinctiveness

/IM-PLOY-ER DI-STINGK-TIV-NUHS/

NOUN

Employer Distinctiveness is how easily the right people can recognize a relevant, believable difference between you and alternatives.

MEANING

Distinctive doesn't mean quirky. It means specific enough to recognize, relevant enough to matter and credible enough to believe.

‍

Try the copy-and-paste test. Could your promise sit on a competitor's careers site without anyone noticing? If so, you may have written something attractive, but you haven't helped anyone choose between you. That's the job of Employer Distinctiveness.

Defined by:
James Ellis,
Employer Brand Labs

Category:

Employer Brand

Related Terms:

MAKE THE CHANGE

Instead of:

Employer differentiation. Trying merely to sound attractive.

Ask:

What can candidates say about us that they could not honestly say about the five employers next to us?

EXAMPLE

Three employers all promise purpose, career growth and good colleagues. One can also show that new hires own consequential decisions within their first months. Suddenly there's something to compare.

HOW TO USE IT

Put your employer claims next to the real talent competitors' claims. Keep only differences that are true, relevant to the people you want and supported by proof.

SAY IT TO LEADERSHIP

We sound a lot like the companies we're trying to beat for talent. What can we say that's both useful to candidates and difficult for those employers to say honestly?

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH

Other terms

The New Dictionary of Hiring card: The Capability Receipt, noun. A one-sentence test of a hire's business impact: “Because this person is here, the business can now ___.” Abstract iridescent glass shape on a white background.

Employer Distinctiveness

Employer Distinctiveness is how easily the right people can recognize a relevant, believable difference between you and alternatives.

MEANING

MAKE THE CHANGE

EXAMPLE

HOW TO USE IT

SAY IT TO LEADERSHIP

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH

Other terms

The Capability Receipt

The Twelve Clause

Employer Sameness

Pages

Ideas

Utility Pages